President Joe Biden honored soon-to-be-retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at the White House on Thursday and said that he will nominate Breyer's replacement by the end of February.

He also reiterated a campaign promise in noting that his first Supreme Court nominee would be a Black woman.

"The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court," Biden said.

Reports emerged Wednesday that Breyer — one of the oldest justices on the court and the second-longest tenured justice — would soon step down.

In a letter to the president made public Thursday, Breyer said his retirement would take effect "when the court rises for the summer recess this year (typically late June or early July)." He added that he hoped his successor would be "nominated and confirmed" by that time.

In honoring Breyer Thursday, Biden reminisced about presiding over his Supreme Court confirmation hearings as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He raved about Breyer's "brilliance," " values," and "scholarship," and called his opinions "particular, sensible and nuanced."

"I think he's the model public servant in a time of partisan division," Biden said.

Breyer spoke briefly following Biden's remarks, quoting the founding fathers in calling America an "experiment that's still going on." He added that it's up to future generations to "determine whether the experiment still works."

"I'm an optimist, and I'm pretty sure it will," Breyer said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already promised that a Biden nominee would "receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed."

Many Democratic lawmakers have been pushing Breyer to retire now — while Democrats control the White House and the Senate — to ensure another liberal judge is added to the high court.

The ideology of the court has swung to favor conservatives in recent years. President Donald Trump — buoyed by a Republican-led Senate's refusal to vote on President Barack Obama's nominee ahead of the 2016 election — nominated three conservative justices to the bench in his four years in office: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The additions of those justices gave conservatives a 6-3 advantage on the court.

Breyer's retirement comes as the Supreme Court weighs several landmark cases that concern abortion rights, voting rights and affirmative action in the college selection process.

Newsy

Potential nominees

With Biden promising to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, a few front runners have already emerged, according to The Associated Press and Newsy. They are:

U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — The 51-year-old judge has served as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia since 2013. Biden nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals last summer.

U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs — The 55-year-old Childs has served as a federal judge in South Carolina since 2010. Biden recently nominated her to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals.

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger — The 45-year-old judge previously served in the Office of the Solicitor General under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. She's served on the California Supreme Court since 2014.

Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill — The 59-year-old civil rights lawyer currently serves as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Glamour Magazine recently named her the 2020 Woman of the Year for her continued work fighting for racial justice.

WASHINGTON —

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire, giving President Joe Biden a chance to nominate to the bench, a well-placed source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Video above: Breyer says nominations are political, justices aren't

Breyer, 83, a consistent liberal vote on the Supreme Court with an unflappable belief in the US system of government and a pragmatic view of the law, has served nearly three decades on the bench.

Breyer is expected to stay on until the end of the term and a replacement is confirmed.

Breyer's decision gives President Joe Biden his first opportunity to name a nominee to the Supreme Court. Although Biden's pick will not change the balance of the court, given that Breyer will almost certainly be replaced with a fellow liberal, the new nominee is expected to be much younger and could serve on the court for decades. The court currently has six conservative justices appointed by Republican presidents, and three liberals appointed by Democrats.

Appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, Breyer has sought to focus the law on how it could work for the average citizen. He was no firebrand and was quick to say that the Supreme Court couldn't solve all of society's problems. He often stressed that the court shouldn't be seen as part of the political branches but recognized that certain opinions could be unpopular.

"It is wrong to think of the court as another political institution," Breyer told an audience at Harvard Law School in 2021. "It is doubly wrong to think of its members as junior league politicians."

"If the public sees judges as 'politicians in robes,'" he warned, "its confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself, can only diminish, diminishing the court's power, including its power to act as a 'check' on the other branches."

On the campaign trail, Biden vowed that if he were to get a vacancy he would fill it with an African American woman, which would represent a historic first for the high court. Potential candidates include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, who was confirmed last year to the powerful DC-based appellate court. She once served as a law clerk for Breyer, and also worked as an assistant federal public defender and served on the US Sentencing Commission.

Another possibility would be Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, who serves on the California Supreme Court and is a veteran of the US Solicitor General's office. Members of Biden's team have previously stressed that they are seeking diversity for judicial appointments and that they are prepared to break from the norm and consider those whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the federal bench, including those who are public defenders and civil rights and legal aid attorneys.

The news comes as the court's conservative majority has flexed its muscles in a blockbuster term. The justices have already heard one case that could overturn Roe v. Wade and another that could expand gun rights. Recently, Breyer joined his liberal colleagues, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, in a bitter dissent when the conservative majority blocked Biden's vaccine mandate for large employers. Breyer also dissented last year when the court allowed a Texas six-week abortion ban to remain in effect. The law is the strictest in the nation and bars abortion before most women even know they are pregnant.

Democrats control the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate — but control isn't guaranteed forever.

The 2022 midterm elections are still a year and a half away. But with such a slim majority in the Senate, if something unexpected and sudden happens with just one member of the Democratic caucus, everything could potentially change.

The Democratic majority in the Senate is 50-50 presently, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking ties.

HOW TIME CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING

If a scandal or an illness inflicts any Democrat in the Senate, President Joe Biden's agenda would be brought to a standstill.

If a Democratic senator is forced to leave their post, in most states, a Democratic governor could appoint another Democrat, restoring the current balance of power.

But things get more complicated if the sitting governor of a state is a Republican. or if a special election has to take place.

Currently, there are Republican governors in Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, West Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts and Georgia. There is also at least one Democratic senator representing those states.

In each one of those states, governors can pick a replacement before the next election can occur. In some states, the replacement serves the remainder of the outgoing senators term.

Under the current scenario, it's highly likely a Republican governor would pick a Republican, giving Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his collegues control of the Senate again.

Some states don't allow gubernatorial selections, like Wisconsin and Oregon. That means if a Democratic senator in one of those states leaves office, a special election would occur — with control of the Senate on the line.

PROGRESSIVES GROWING ANXIOUS

Frustration is beginning to grow among progressives on Capitol Hill who are upset voting rights, gun control, infrastructure and many other campaign promises have yet to pass or receive clear direction.

Frustration is also mounting with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82 years old and still on the Supreme Court. Many Democrats want him to step down while they are in power so an equally liberal and younger justice can take his place.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, has been especially vocal.

“During the Obama admin, folks thought we’d have a 60 Dem majority for a while. It lasted 4 months. Dems are burning precious time,” she tweeted.